1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording apparatus, such as a printer or an image forming apparatus, wherein a tray on which recording materials can be mounted is employed.
2. Related Background Art
Conventionally, various types of recording media have been proposed for use with a recording apparatus such as a printer or an image forming apparatus, and among those media are compact recording media (hereinafter collectively referred to as compact disks or CDs) having a specific thickness, such as CD-Rs, DVDs and cards. For a current general-purpose recording apparatus, when a path for the conveying of cut sheets is employed during the recording of data on a recording material such as a CD, because of the highly rigid construction of the CD, defects occur, i.e., the conveying performance may be deteriorated, surface scratches may be made, or the conveying of the CD may be disabled because the distance between the conveying rollers is inappropriate. Therefore, when a thick, compact recording medium such as a CD is used, a tray is employed to convey the CD along a path separate from the path used for cut sheets.
Since a tray is thicker, in general, than is a cut sheet, some consideration must be given to the procedures employed for inserting a recording material into a conveying roller pair, for the sandwiching of the recording material by the conveying roller pair, and for the acquisition of an appropriate gap between a recording unit (a recording head) and the recording material. While taking these functions into account, a method has been provided according to which an operating lever is provided for a recording apparatus, and the urging force exerted by a conveying member is regulated in consonance with the movement of the operation lever. Thus, after a user has inserted and positioned a tray at a predetermined location, the user again manipulates the operating lever to set the conveying member in the urging state. The user also manipulates the operating lever to raise a carriage whereon a recording head is mounted, so as to obtain an appropriate recording gap (the distance between the recording head and the recording material).
However, in the conventional example, when a user starts a recording operation but forgets to manipulate the operating lever to raise the carriage, the tray collides with and damages the recording head. In order to eliminate this problem, it has been requested that the ascent and descent of the recording head be controlled by a motor, and that, depending on the recording material, a recording head separation instruction signal (an instruction to separate the recording head) be issued so that the separation of the recording head from the tray can be performed automatically. However, in this case, a problem still exists in that the succeeding employment of a cleaning means is required.
Conventionally, there are many apparatuses wherein, in order to perform the recording (the printing) for an envelope, thick paper printing height positioning mechanisms (to set thick paper print positions) are provided that raise recording heads about 1 mm. According to the configurations used for these apparatuses, cleaning means (recovery means) for cleaning the recording head (recovery process) is raised to a position corresponding to that of the recording head. However, for a recording apparatus compatible with CD printing, it is difficult to track the cleaning means up to a position (a height) about 3 mm higher, i.e., to the same height to which the recording head is raised and positioned. As a result, leakage occurs, due to insufficient capping pressure (the bonding force between the recording head and the cap), as does a wiping failure, due to the insufficient distance (insufficient overlapping distance) parts are moved to provide an interval for the entrance of the wiper blade that cleans the recording head. While the tracking range for the recovery means could be extended by using a mechanical arrangement, because the size of this arrangement would cause its configuration to become complicated, accordingly, the manufacturing costs and the size of the recording apparatus would be increased.